for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23-24
Why is verse 23 quoted so often apart from the amazing grace and good news found in verse 24? In all of our shortcomings, all of our sins, and all of our flaws— we have been freely justified by grace and redeemed!
The Father offered His Son as the atonement (the repairer of every wrong) for all mankind. We cannot add to His perfect atonement or subtract from its power to save and redeem all mankind— every sinner. We merely have to receive this free gift by faith (Romans 3:25). Faith is the only requirement to receive a full and complete pardon.
So often believers struggle with feelings of condemnation and with ongoing patterns of sin. Many are consumed and exhausted by working in their own strength to “be justified” and to “put the sin that entangles them to death.” They seek the Lord’s strength to be free and yet do they receive it by faith? I wonder if the issue is far less the attraction to sin or not being good enough or strong enough— is the issue possibly a problem with faith? Do they truly believe that they have freely been justified and redeemed by grace? Have they received this truth in faith without question or the addition of their works— or striving? And do they remember the words from Romans 5:8,
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
He died for us while mankind was still fully immersed in sin— the sin that leads to death. Why else would He come and die? When each of us came to believe in the Lord and by faith receive His forgiveness, we were still sinners— but the price He paid for all mankind reached through the years and extended grace to us. Transforming us from sinners to saints— through His righteousness and received by faith!
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.” Romans 6:5-7
Do we believe this? That the body that was once ruled by sin was done away with and that we have been set free from sin? So then, why are so many believers entangled in sinful patterns? Again, may I suggest that it could be a matter of faith more than sinful desires. Do we believe that by faith the old self was indeed crucified with Christ when we were united to Him? Or have we forgotten the faith that united us to Him and have we returned to live as slaves though they’ve been fully freed and redeemed?
The moment a person leaves their faith in the finished work of the cross and begins to believe that they are once again ruled by sin and viewed by God as a sinner rather than a son— their faith in His grace and in being freely justified is compromised. Rather than striving to enter into the rest of the finished work of the cross, they enter into the exhausting work of a slave to overcome what Christ already overcame for them.
My dear friend, Chris Mitchell, recently said, “A servant is always working but a son has entered into the rest of the ‘It is finished’ work of the cross.”
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience” Hebrews 4:11
Have some fallen away from Him because they’ve unknowingly traded their sonship for slavery? They’ve traded the rest that comes by faith for works that lead to failure and exhaustion. They’ve traded the finished work of Christ for the unfinished and never-ending works of the law? Return to the faith by which you were saved! The free gift of grace gives you freedom over sin and makes you a son and not a slave.
Stop striving with sin and strive to enter the rest of His salvation so that your soul will be ushered into obedience by faith through His finished work. Let the love He poured out on the cross wash you anew. Let that love revive you and give you rest. Let the grace of Christ replace the exhaustion of trying to be justified by your own strength and actions. And let faith usher you into the freedom that you so deeply desire to live in.
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
This is faith!
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Inscribe Ministries
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